How Far I've Come

If you only knew how far I've come since the day you walked away.
If you only knew the hardship in being cast astray.
If you only had the heart to stay,
You'd see how far I've come, since the day you walked away.

The who I am, the what I know continued every day to grow
Every part of me better than the one you used to know
For all the times I waited, and when you didn't show
The who I am, the what I know is from the pain I pushed below

If you could see how far I've come would you still have left me then?
Would you know that my potential had not yet begun to begin
When I think of the strength your leaving's left me, I just have to grin
If you only knew how far I've come maybe we could start again.

But the who I am and the what I know now belongs to someone else
Their faith in me has summoned something surpassing worldly wealth
The day you walked away was the one I moved toward health
The who I am and how far I've come belongs entirely to myself

life is single handedly the most painful, beautiful, horrible, amazing, gut wrenching experience.  Like you, I have one.  I have one chance to be a better version of myself each day.  I have one moment that is in no way encapsulated.  I have one moment to scream that I love her, I have one moment to be the best of myself and not judge those that have fallen below that same line.
I often miss the mark.  I often come off too strong or not strong enough but I can say that never, not once, did I give less than my everything.  This is our chance to inhale, to breath the viscous, stinking hell that is life. Somehow we have been given autonomy.  We are our own anathema, we are the plauge that scars the face presented to seas of waves that could no better support us than they could a leaf adrift.
This life cuts small, cuts small adrift in a sea of sharks.  Life is in no way our demise.

the novelty exists in those poor souls who have little more to offer than a pretty face.  a flash of flame that has little hope of greater contribution.  longevity is in no way a product of random occurrence.  character runs deeper than the shallow depths of ones hair, it transcends the trivial curves of taunt skin.  money, prowess, sex and deception are the coins that seem to trade hands.

I'll walk until my feet are bleeding

I've seen things, man. I've seen 14 countries in the last two weeks. I've seen a women do things with a Ping pong ball that defies every college anatomy class I ever attended. I've seen the inside of burning buildings and barrel waves alike. I've seen two wars and all the hell they bring. I've saved lives and taken them. I've seen the apex of human kindness and cruelty existing in my own heart as well as in others. I've seen the finish line of several Ironman races and the inside of an octagon. I've seen seen a women selling weed brownies at sunset on a beach in Costa Rica while doing a yoga class with half a dozen Scandinavian women, yes I bought a round for the group and indulged. I've seen a Beautiful blonde Russian women invite me for a naked midnight swim off the shores of Thailand. I've seen strangers open their homes and their hearts to a homeless, unemployed veteran. I've seen the inside of a jail cell and broke bread with heads of state. I've been kicked out of bars, universities and countries. I've stowed away on trains and jumped from planes. I've loved and lost and loved again. I've lived enough for a hundred men. The life we get, we get only one. I refuse to stop living till the living is done. We get one chance to cast away, the dirtiest word you can ever say. In your life only one thing can stop the go, it's your fear of living and that foul word, no. If hope is a thing with feathers that perches in the soul, the only way to keep it flying is to answer all invitations with an enthusiastic, "Let's roll!"